More freedomto do the things that we all love and to spend time with our loved ones, and all I'm wondering is what the hell is he talking about?
The more technology we have, the less time we spend with each other, especially face-to-face. The only reason people have cars is not to travel the world and to other states to have different experiences, but to drive every single day back and forth to the same exact area to work the same exact hours until they're 65 and can barely move and are almost in the ground with nothing to show for it, with expenses rising.
That's what we have to look forward to. My mother was a victim of that very system. It was the machine that killed her.
And with all the machines and technology that we have now, they still, for some reason, despite my father breaking his body to make the very infrastructure that people enjoy, still somehow can't create something to fix this issue.
Lincoln sacrificed himself to birth this product into existence along with his team, ironically to bring people closer together so that families can have more time to spend with each other, but at the expense of him sacrificing his own relationships and costing himself that very connection.
It's all very… meta… and honestly depressing.
For Lincoln's sake I'm excited for him and for all the people who are looking to this for the future, but all I see when I look at that damn robot is another rung in the confirmation of humanity's impending destruction.
Chapter 51
The chamber hums quietly around me. Auralis stands motionless in the center of the mock living room set, its eyes dark.
I shift my weight, arms crossed, watching Sarah tap at the control panel. Morris sits in his carrier on a workstation just outside the door, watching everything with those big curious eyes.
Sarah glances up, her smile polite but tight.
“All right,” she says lightly. “Let’s get started. Just walk around, talk to it, pick up a few things. Normal stuff.”
“Sarah,” Link protests.
“Lincoln. It’s fine. I’m monitoring everything.”
“We should have Tom—”
“Li—,”
“No handoffs. That’s what you assured me.”
Sarah huffs. “The hardware already has the limitations set. Jesus.”
The hair on my neck begins to rise for some reason as they argue before Sarah reassures him, and me.
“Gabby, just a couple of more tests. We’ll be done if Lincoln stops interrupting at every turn,” she states while giving Lincoln a stern, yet somewhat playful, look.
Staring at Link, his face is tense. Momentarily pressing his lips, he blinks slowly and then gives me a light nod.
Nodding, I step deeper into the set. I pick up a book from the coffee table, flip it open.
“So… what am I supposed to say?” I ask.
“Anything,” Sarah replies from the panel. “Ask it to move something. Tell it you’re tired. Whatever feels natural.”
I shrug. “Okay. Hey, um… Auralis. Can you take that blanket off the chair? Put it… I dunno… on the floor?”
Auralis seems to emerge from its standby mode, its eyes glowing soft cobalt.
“Good morning,” it says in that calm, neutral voice. “Of course.”
It steps forward, graceful at first, then reaches for the blanket.
Lincoln tenses, while watching like a hawk, as the robot’s hand closes around it, but the motion hesitates. A faint mechanical whine fills the air.
I frown. “You okay there?”
